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5 Essential Tips to Keep Your Smartphone Safe

5 Essential Tips to Keep Your Smartphone Safe

Many people around the world rely on their smartphones for a variety of things. Whether it’s checking your bank balance, logging into websites or using it to access social media, our phones can take on a number of different tasks. The worst thing that can happen to us is that our phone is stolen, bricked or broken. It takes a long time for companies to restore our phones or even send a replacement, and much of the data on the phone might be lost as a result. At worst, you might even have your identity stolen along with your phone. Here are five tips that anyone can use to make their phone more safe and secure.

Buy a Sturdy Case

There are hundreds of different cases and protectors that you can buy for your phone. Unfortunately, cheap ones don’t work very well, and even the slightest of knocks or drops can end up breaking it, and you might need to get a phone screen repair service or worse, some of the internal parts might be damaged. If you’re willing to pay ludicrous amounts for a top-end smartphone, then it’s a small price to pay to get a nice case to protect it from damage.

Use Proper Lock Screens

People can easily look over your shoulder and see what pin number or pattern you’re using to unlock your phone. Even worse, if you’re using a simple swipe lock screen then you might as well offer your phone to thieves. Without a secure lock screen, your phone is going to easily be stolen, reset and sold to someone else. Many modern phones come with fingerprint scan lock systems which are much safer than any other alternative. So if you’re worried about your phone being unlocked, make sure you get one of the latest models with fingerprint technology.

Avoid Jailbreaking

It’s understandable that people want to get more out of their phones by jailbreaking, but it’s a risk that you shouldn’t take unless you absolutely need more control over your phone. Once you jailbreak your phone, it’s not only you that will have root access to your files—hackers and thieves will too. Most people in the world don’t need to jailbreak their phones and only do it because it’s recommended by a friend. Ask yourself what the advantages of jailbreaking your phone is, and consider if it’s worth the risk.

Don’t Download Unlicensed Apps

Most phone applications have to be licensed by your operating system before they can be downloaded and installed. However, this can often be bypassed if your phone is jailbroken or if you download the software files separately and not from the store. This can lead to viruses or malware being run on your phone which could steal your data and login information or destroy your phone’s software.

Use Safe Public Networks

If you ever try to access WiFi when you’re outside, then make sure you only use verified services that you have heard of. Don’t access a WiFi network like “John’s Free WiFi” because it’s likely that someone could steal your data on an unencrypted connection and leave your phone’s details exposed.